Canal snow ice and graffiti

The Lachine canal is still mostly frozen with fresh snow cover. The commuter train (REM) runs along with bridge at the top, while cars and pedestrians use the bridge at the bottom. There used to be a tunnel running underneath but its been blocked off for a long time. To make the shadow colour I mix variations of dark green (PBk31), blue (PB60), magenta (PV55) and blue-green (PG7). Its done wet-in-wet to create a feathering effect. 

Bridges snow shadow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026

At one of the locks, an overflow river meanders down a short waterfall. Yellow buoys are there to stop watercraft from getting near when the ice thaws and people start using the canal again. It was the first time I could practice painting water again after a long winter. Its officially Spring now, so lets go!

Yellow buoys open water, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026

Graffiti artists turned the walls of the Lachine canal into an open air gallery. This was a ZONEK piece but I changed it to PJD2026 instead. In the background, you see some of the never-ending condos that pop up along the canal. Its st Henri over there, and I am technically standing in Verdun. 

Frozen canal graffiti, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Water was flowing down Courcelle street in st Henri. In the background, are trees that grow along the outside of the train tracks, and some community housing is shown on the right. I liked the overall brown and grey look, with pops of blue from the sky, and red from the building cladding. 

Thaw Courcelle street, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

In the foreground there was the remnants of an old wall from the factory that used to manufacture wiring. The wall was once stone, but concrete was poured on, then the graffiti artists got to it. Heavily textured, it made for an interesting effect. When the weather improves I have to go back and do a proper painting of it. Anyways, you get the idea. 

What the heck? watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026  

 

 

Ghosts pigeons and dumpsters downtown

Phillips square, across from the bay, is at the center of downtown Montreal. Since the Bay closed, its iconic yellow sign was recently removed, leaving a ghostly impression which you see in this painting. I tried to get some of the details of the brickwork and plaster features on its elaborate facade. Tourists and pigeons were all over the square. 

Ghost of the Bay, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026

With some snow still remaining, these pigeons were having fun looking for food. There must have been a hundred of them. In the background was a Burger King restaurant which I renamed Burger PJD26, although Burger Pete would have sounded better!

Pigeons Burger Pete, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026

Riding past the alley and I could not resit painting all the dumpsters and other colourful accents including the Olympic rings on top of a building up in the background. A mural adorned the left side, and a few more pigeons mulled about for bits and bites. 

Dumpster alley, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Sleet Provigo traffic

Sleet is a combination of rain and snow, and it was coming down today. I found a ledge to stand under on Sherbrooke on the way back from the office, and made a painting of the Provigo grocery store on the corner of Cavendish, along with traffic in the foreground. Pops of yellow, orange, red, green, blue and turquoise could be seen on the vehicles including a city bus, and car lights reflecting on the wet road. It would have been nice to make more paintings but I had to chicken out due to the steady sleet. Speaking of chicken, I kept smelling rotisserie chicken while standing here, there must be a shop nearby. Montreal is ranked the number one rotisserie chicken city in North America, along with our poutine. 

Sleet Provigo traffic, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026

Bins train snow

As the after-work commute started to ramp up, I found this scene of my favorite yellow dumpsters, now covered in graffiti, and a passing commuter train. With steady snowfall, usually its a no-go for painting but the snowflakes were large and dry so the painting came out pretty good. In fact, falling snow flakes created a snow-effect on the painting, which was due to melted water of the snowflake creating a small backwash. It was just a fun painting to do, after grinding through the last few days of painting, today windchill was lower and generally more pleasant than before. To paint a scene like this, its important to start the bright colours, so I laid down the yellow, red, and blue, then filled in the brown, grey and black tones. 

Bins train snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026

Melt freeze melt freeze ....

Today was another freezing day, although much of the snow had melted a few days ago. In this scene, you see a school in the background, with pine trees and skateboard ramps in the middle ground. I used a little bit of salt in the water, I have two waters with me, one fresh one salt, and mix them as needed. Still looking forward to spring. 

Melt freeze trees, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026

Sitting on the same bench, looking towards the Sports Complex, I did this painting of an interesting pair of pine trees with beds of pine needles on the ground. Its the closest thing to a forest that we have in NDG. The city planted some more trees and a small wetlands area on the corner of the park, which is a cool idea and I will make some painting when it fills in a bit. Overall, it was a good winter with lots of paintings, including some from Brazil! 

Pine trees Sports complex, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Colour Compost

We are big fans of composting, in fact I have a composter on the tiny bit of grass that we call a backyard and use it regularly. By now, its heaped with frozen vegetable and fruit peelings, no meat because that attracts rats and mice. We put the meat and egg shells into a separate bag for the City compost service to pick up. Recently I composted one of my old paintings to see what would happen and sure enough, the 100% rag fiber disintegrated and got absorbed into the soil. So one day when I need to decide what to do with my collection, I know what to do! This painting was a palette cleanser with a compost-inspired colour scheme hence the name. Its on a watercolour paper stock (not cotton fiber) but it would probably still compost just fine. I was keen on painting outside the last few days but with howling winds and frigid chill I decided to wait it out. 

Colour Compost, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, March 2026 

Gas Price

The gas price was well over $1.80 which is a lot in Montreal, its going to cost more to fill up my bicycle. But seriously, its all due somehow to the events in the middle east. In the painting, I show a gas station sign, over on Cavendish and Somerled, with my initials and the year instead of a price. In the background is an eerie glow from the gas station lights, and a green light on the left to provide contrast. The darn paint would just not dry fast enough, so there was some smudging here and there but it makes for quite a striking effect. 

Gas Price, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026